Microsoft Exchange - Restoring Exchange 2000 to a new server

Procedure for restoring MS Exchange in a Windows 2000 test environment, where the Exchange server is running on a different server than the domain controller.

Prerequisites

Servers and Backup Media:

Domain Controller server (to be configured)

MS Exchange server (to be configured)

Backup set catalog and backup set media

Exchange database backups should have an identical number of stores, and the names should be identical to those which are currently in Active Directory. Database changes in Exchange such as addition or removal of additional mailbox or public folder stores may have an adverse affect on restore.

Access to both the production network and a test network (isolated from your production network)

Part 1: The Domain Controller

Access to both the production and test networks required.

Install Windows 2000 Server on the new Domain Controller (DC) server (to be referred to as NEWDC)

Install the same service packs and patches that are installed on existing DC(s).

Once complete, remove NEWDC from production network and isolate into a private testing network. (WARNING: insure NEWDC and the Exchange Server are not connected to the production environment)

Assign a static IP address to NEWDC. For the DNS server entry use the IP address of NEWDC.

In Administrative Tools, DNS, find the entry for your production Exchange server and change the IP address to the IP you previously assigned it.

Now you must seize the FSMO roles of Schema Master, RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Domain Naming Master (Infrastructure Master cannot exist on same server as the Global Catalog). These roles are typically handled by the first DC that was created in the network; however Exchange cannot be installed without these roles present in the network.

Start ntdsutil.exe <Enter>

Type 'roles' <Enter>

Type 'connections' <Enter>

Type 'connect to server <name-of-server> <Enter> (where <name-of-server> is the name of your new domain controller, NEWDC in this case.)

Type 'q' <Enter>, and then follow the steps to seize the four roles:

Type 'seize schema master' <Enter>

Type 'seize rid master' <Enter>

Type 'seize pdc' <Enter>

Type 'seize domain naming master' <Enter>

Type 'q' <Enter> to exit

Reboot.

The new Domain Controller is ready.

Part 2: The Exchange Server

Access to the test network required.

Install Windows and any current service packs so that the installation matches what was running on the old Exchange server. During the installation, the server should be given the exact same name as the original Exchange Server. For our example, we’ll call it MAIL. Ensure that the drives are partitioned the same as they were on the original Exchange server. The sizes do not need to match exactly, but you should ensure that there is enough room on the appropriate partitions for the Exchange databases.

Ensure the server is only connected to the test network environment. Assign a static IP address on the same subnet as NEWDC, and for the DNS server entry, use NEWDC’s IP address. Update NEWDC’s DNS records so that MAIL points to the new static IP address.

Ensure that DNS is functioning correctly by pinging MAIL from NEWDC and NEWDC from MAIL by name.

Now that things are functioning correctly, join MAIL to the domain. When prompted, enter the credentials of a user that has permission to add servers to the domain (typically a Domain Administrator). Reboot when this is complete.

Install Exchange in Disaster Recovery mode. To do so, from the run menu, type the path to setup.exe on the Exchange CD, and suffix it with the "DisasterRecovery" switch. For example:

D:\i386\setup\setup.exe /DisasterRecovery.

On the component selection screen, you will have to manually select the components that were installed on the original Exchange server. The only installation option should be "Disaster Recovery"

This will cause Exchange to be installed very minimally, while at the same time pulling the original store configurations from Active Directory. During the installation, you may see a few dialog boxes. This is normal.

Install the same Exchange service pack version you were running on the old Exchange server. You must install the service pack with the /DisasterRecovery switch as well, using the path to the update.exe file instead of setup.exe.

After the service pack install is complete, install any required hotfixes that were installed on the original Exchange server.

Before restoring, you need to ensure that the databases are ready for restore. Open Exchange System Manager, and navigate to the storage groups for the server. For each store, get Properties and go to the Database tab to ensure that the boxes "This database can be overwritten by a restore", and "Do not mount this store at startup" are checked. This will allow the restore to complete successfully. The stores should not be mounted at this point, if they are, then something has gone wrong. Now is also a good time to verify that the database/store names and locations match those of the original (production) Exchange server.

If you had your stores and logfiles stored in a custom location, you may need to create the directory structure for that location before starting the restore. For example, if your stores were located on S:\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA, you may need to create that path if it doesn’t already exist before starting the restore. If the paths to the stores and the logfiles do not exist, the restore will fail.

Install Retrospect. If you are installing Retrospect on another machine to restore the Exchange server as a client, ensure that the other machine is connected only to the isolated network, and that you have the latest Retrospect client running on the Exchange server. Open Retrospect, and ensure that your Exchange server is licensed and accessible. Go to Restore > Database, and choose the appropriate database snapshot. Choose the new Exchange server as the destination, and start the restore. When the restore completes, the databases should be mounted and functioning, and your restored Exchange server is now ready to use.